Chikyuugai Shounen Shoujo

Both shows are about children/Teenagers with no experience of space, getting stuck in a space station or a spaceship, trying everything to get home safely, whilst there is an impostor among the ones involved that endangers the life of the rest of the cast. 

Both are directed by Mitsuo Iso, with Dennou coil being his first and Orbital children his 2nd work. -Both feature children characters interacting with future technology, with AR and VR in Dennou Coil and AI and Space travel in Orbital children. -Orbital children have some Dennou Coil references such as "poop" and one of the children using the same AR glasses that was featured in Dennou Coil. Some of the mystic lines seen in Orbital children resembles a lot of those lines seen in Dennou Coil as well. If you have seen Orbital Children I strongly recommend Dennout Coil. It is criminally underrated and both shows are now available on Netflix! read more 

The Orbital Children and Planetes have completely different plotlines, but are some of the closest examples of hard science fiction found in a space theme anime. Planetes especially makes an effort to include detailed technical explanations for the viewer to understand. The Orbital Children is more limited due to its total running time, but the plotline is very much driven by hard science fiction ideas. Follow this recommendation to continue humanity's journey into space.  

Orbital Children if it was a 90s OVA that was never finished. Mitsuo Iso worked on both of these. 

Very similar in the series are the philosophical topics of Artificial Intelligence and free will. In both series super human intelligence plays a major role. They cover the topics of: -AI alignment issues -Problems/Dangers of AIs in general -How much humans should follow the AIs lead versus following their own intuition 

Both are very short hard-science fiction anime about adolescents, conspiracies, and government secrets. They all feature a very realistic depiction of space travel and its effects. Freedom is more of a dirtied spacepunk post-apocalyptic future where two rebellious streetracers on the Moon end up on Earth and need to make they way back. Along the way they try to figure out what the mysterious "Freedom" the people on Earth talk about. The Orbital Children presents a clean and luxurious future in space juxtaposed with a government that would commit infanticide, an a conspiracy involving an AI uprising of apocalyptic proportions. 

I'd honestly forgotten about these two shows being similar until I looked back at the summary of Uchuu Show e Youkoso, and while on the surface, it doesn't seem like the two series are similar outside of involving the setting of the moon and children as the main characters, there is a bit more to it. There is a definite coming of age story going on, of the children learning who they are as each of the progress shows progress through the plot, but on top of these coming of age stories involving the moon, it also involves showcasing, with Uchuu Show e Youkoso being forced into an extraterrestrial show while the children from Chikyuugai Shounen Shoujo take a different take, that being a part of the entertainment is purposeful on their part in that the latter showcases the trend of social media influencers, bringing a fresh perspective to the tropes that Uchuu Show e Youkoso used ten years earlier. Not to mention the shows are both fun, and I enjoyed the cast of characters a lot, even the quirky plot device in the older show involving pets. read more 

Japan might have fascination with robots and futuristic societies, but there are surprisingly few titles providing social commentary on the use of the internet and artificial intelligence in society. Summer Wars keeps its commentary very simple as the writing is focused on having the audience cheer for the characters. The Orbital Children provide a deeper and more thoughtful commentary as it is a hard science fiction miniseries. Summer Wars might be described as having a grandiose, external conflict, but it cannot compare to the space disaster in The Orbital Children. They are definitely worth the time commitment. 

Do you love disaster movies? Have you been looking for more anime version of this film genre? Both anime follow a group of children and adult as they try to find safety after a disaster. The Orbital Children can be described as space disaster meets speculative fiction, which creates something new in this genre. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is a traditional disaster story told very well. Give it a shot and you might enjoy it.  

Are you looking for more space theme anime that is not a space epic? The Orbital Children and Space Brothers might have completely different stories, but they will keep you engaged in their narratives by showing excitement and tension without including military conflicts. Space Brothers is more grounded in current/near-future realism. The Orbital Children is more futuristic with its inclusion and use of artificial intelligence. Both anime will satisfy your need. 

Vivy and The Orbital Children are futuristic science fiction series involving artificial intelligence. They are completely different from each other, but they really explore how AI can shape society for the better or worst. The Orbital Children is heavier on the exposition so it can be a real treat for lovers of hard science fiction. Vivy is more action packed so it can be easy to overlook the AI commentary. Anyone with a strong interest in artificial intelligence and science fiction will not want to miss out on this recommendation.  

Movies with heavy environmentalist and political themes about stopping a celestial body impacting the Earth. In Char's Counterattack, Char Aznable leads the disenfranchised people living in the space colonies to another war of independence from Earth. He promotes his idea that humans will evolve if they migrate to space and uses it as justification for dropping asteroids onto the Earth as it will force mass migration. Standing in his way is the protagonist Amuro Ray who isn't as impatient as Char is. In The Orbital Children, Touya is a child living in space who is heavily discriminated against online, considered a parasite by vocal Earthers. He regurgitates the beliefs of the terrorist group John Doe who believe that in order to save Earths environment and humanity as a whole, a percentage of Earth's population must be culled. Along comes an AI controlled comet that does exactly that. Touya must work together with children from Earth in order to stop the comet. read more